Primary Date Set for March 13, 2012

The Alabama Senate passed House Bill 425, which will change the state and presidential primary dates to the second Tuesday in March during Presidential primary years. This will mean that the 2012 primary will move to March 13th. This decision will save taxpayers over $4 million by avoiding the cost of a second primary election in the same year. Non-presidential year primaries will continue to be held on the first Tuesday in June, including elections for the state legislature and state constitutional officers.

Both the Republican National Committee and the Democrat National Committee passed rules last year prohibiting all but four states from having presidential primaries prior to March.  The four states - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada - are slated to be the first in the nation to vote for the Republican and Democrat candidates for President.  "Any state that breaks this rule and holds their primary prior to March will lose one-half of their delegates to the party's respective convention," according to Armistead.

In 2008, the state held its Presidential Primary in February and its state primary in June.  "I met with Speaker Mike Hubbard, President Pro Tempore Del Marsh to find a solution to this predicament and save money for the taxpayers in Alabama.  We concluded that we should consolidate the two primaries once again and save the taxpayers over $4 million," Armistead commented.  "I also met with Judge Mark Kennedy, Chairman of the Alabama Democrat Party and he agreed that we needed to make this change."

"Alabama must stay relevant in the election of our Presidential nominees, so it was necessary for us to make sure we were one of the first primaries in the nation," Armistead stated. "But, it was also important that we not break the rules established by the Republican and Democrat National committees by having the election too early and losing half of our delegates. The Republican leadership in both the House and Senate worked with legislators to find a compromise that achieves these important goals and it also saves taxpayers from having to foot the bill to have separate primaries for the state and presidential elections."

"I appreciate the hard work our House and Senate members put into this, as well as the efforts of the committee I appointed to study this issue and come up with a recommendation that worked for all," Armistead continued.